Intermittent starting problem

[sharon5000]

My 54 1.2 Ibiza has just started giving me a problem. 63k on the clock and its just started giving me starting problems.

It can happen at any time cold start or warm, so no real pattern.

The engine turns over and over, but fails to catch. After a couple of goes it catches and then its fine.

Any idea what the problem could be - I've read a few posts and so far it looks like it could be one of the following 3:

temperature sensor problem
coil pack failure
timing chain

As I'm incapable of doing any work on the car myself it will have to go into a garage to be sorted - and being a woman don't want them to think they can take the p*ss. So any help you can give would be appreciated.

Sharon

 

[RUM4MO]

I was just going to suggest "use search" - but you've already done that! There are a few more VAG sites that you can go to to pick up clues - namely www.briskoda.net (Fabia section) & www.uk-polos.net & www.************** . You could also buy a code reader like the cheap and cheery Gendan VAG one for less than £40 www.gendan.co.uk - that would let you "see" any codes that are being logged - the only problem is that there might not be any getting logged YET! You know the sort of thing, if the engine coolant temperature sensor is reading "high" then that would not necessarily log a fault code as it could be showing credible temperatures. I'm sure someone will come along with better advice soon or you will find more on these other sites - this is the best Seat site though! BTW Skoda people tend to try to sort their cars themselves more than VW or SEAT people - so the Skoda forum is very active when it comes to problems (well normally is!).

Ah, I see the other Seat site has been removed, fair enough the other site removes this one, so you need to type in "seat" and the word "forum" as one word then add ".net" - its a very inactive forum but it might just give you the clues you need. Remember there are quite a few independant VAG specialists about and most of these forum users will be using them, so they would not mess you about - and if they did then you can shout out here and that will not be good for their business - I think that the same goes for dealers as well - is there not a section here for giving them a YES or NO vote?

Going to a small general garage might give you problems if they don't know you, remember one thing though, never ever tell any garage what to replace or they will just ignore what is really wrong and follow your instruction - you can't blame them really customer is always right - a bit like doctors - or so I have been told (men don't like doctors)!

 

[beezanick]

In my oppinion;

If the car has the same starting problems when cold or warm, it is unlikley to be a temp sensor.

Does the car run any differently now than before the problem started? If not, I would doubt its the timing chain. I would also have thought it would rule out the coil packs, but could be wrong.

Do you get any warning lights on the dash when it wont start? If a light comes on which looks like a key it is an imobiliser fault.

I would suggest your best bet is to either get any fault codes read by a garage, or to try and get a cheap vag-com cable off ebay so you can read any codes yourself. They can be a bit of a pain to set up if your not that good with computers though. Perhaps there is a member local to you who has it who could read the codes for you?

The other option is to take it to a garage for diagnoses, and put up their findings on here so we can advise you. Hope this is of some help.

 

[sharon5000]

The car runs fine, before and after the problem - so it probably isn't any of the things I mentioned in previous post.

It's going into the garage on Monday to have a diagnosis. I've managed to find a really good local garage - comes very highly recommended.

When I rang up to book it in (needs MOT too), they suggested using the spare keyfor a while, as the sensor (or something) on the key may be causing the problem. So I'll try that and see what they say when they run the diagnosis.

Thanks for all help so far.

 

[beezanick]

if its the key at fault it will mean its the immobiliser which is kicking in (see my post above), so should be an easy fix (new key). They are expensive though, about £120 including coding (needs to be done by seat realy). If its the remote key, it comes in two halves so you should be able to get away with only one half which will reduce the cost.